Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections
August 20 , 2007
Contact:
Warren Slocum
Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Phone: (650) 363-4988 Fax: (650) 363-1903 E-mail: wslocum@smcare.org
Alternate:
David Tom
Phone: (650) 312.5222 E-mail: dtom@smcare.org
A Common Sense Solution for California’s Voting Dilemma
A Guest Column by Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer, County of San Mateo
(Redwood City, CA) The national turnout in Presidential Primaries is pathetic. California’s turnout rates are dismal - 30.5% in 2004 and 37.5% in 2000.
But the number of voters going to the polls at our next Primary Election should be higher. For the first time in nearly 25 years, the field is crowded with compelling candidates, including the first serious female contender, the first serious African-American contender, a strong contender from the last presidential race, a military hero and former prisoner of war, a nationally known television/screen star and the former Mayor of New York City who led that city through the aftermath of 9/11. Additionally, there are some lesser-known candidates with interesting resumes who are offering to lead the nation.
This election cycle has other characteristics that also might contribute to higher than usual turnouts. Consider the fact that: Campaigning has started earlier than any previous Presidential Election; more money is being raised and spent than ever before; real american people have joined the debate by asking the candidates serious questions in self made UTube videos; and the presidential campaigns are using an arsenal of modern technologies to communicate in more diverse ways, with more voters than all previous U.S. elections.
There’s no question -- our country is at a crossroads and there are real choices before us. And all of this coincides with the decertification of electronic voting equipment in 21 of California’s counties and they contain approximately one third of California’s registered voters. It’s a setup for the perfect storm.
The return to all paper ballots at the polling places could adversely affect turnout in the form of long lines. This will be true for the majority of voters who vote first thing in the morning before they go to work and in the evening hours after work. Some voters will not wait — they will go to work or go home and not bother to vote, dashing all hope for a high turnout.
Since the 21 decertified counties must use paper ballots, precinct workers will drown in a sea of paper. Each polling place has approximately 700 to 1,000 registered voters. There are seven possible choices – Republican, Democratic,
Green, American Independent, Peace and Freedom, Libertarian and Decline to
State. plus the increased complexity of other language ballots – Los Angeles County, for instance, prints election materials in seven languages. Just imagine a poll worker sifting through an estimated 300+ different ballot styles to find the correct ballot for each voter.
While the ballot will be short, the humongous number of ballot styles will entangle even the most skilled precinct official and greatly complicate work at the polling places. In this environment, mistakes will be made. Lines are certain to develop. And, just forget about speedy election returns because all those thousands of ballots have to be brought back to a central counting center where hundreds of temporary election workers, just like poll workers, will drown in a sea of paper.
Let’s hope the presidential contest isn’t a cliffhanger like 2000.
The Secretary of State’s decertification order of electronic voting machines is the law. Now it’s time to craft a plan for California that will guarantee election integrity on Election Day, February 5, 2008.
There is an obvious, common sense and proven approach to our voting dilemma.
Permit the conduct of all mail elections in the decertified 21 counties just for the Presidential Primary Election. It is estimated that approximately 40 percent of the voters in those counties currently vote by mail.
The legislature should enact an emergency Vote by Mail legislation and the governor should sign the bill immediately. The law ought to require the approval of the local board of supervisors and it should have three requirements:
- The affected counties open some number of regional early voting centers and several absentee ballot drop-off centers (like the IRS/Post Office do every April 15th);
- Keep the regional early voting centers open for two weeks before the election;
- Require that all election offices that opt for Vote by Mail provide voters a web-based Mail Ballot Tracking System (like FedEx and UPS use) ensuring that voters will have peace of mind knowing when the election office received their ballot. It’s already in place in many California counties; it’s not difficult to implement.
If California took this responsible step, we might avoid confusion and voters would be well served. And we stand a much better chance of a fast and accurate vote count. And that is something that the entire decertification process has had as its foundation — guaranteeing accurate vote counts.
Oregon and Washington have demonstrated that mail balloting is safe and works well for voters. California should adopt the Washington model that allows for All Mail Elections at a county’s discretion. This would ensure that our 2008 Presidential Primary Election will reach its potential by igniting voter interest, restoring public confidence in the electoral process all the while using a reliable election solution that will save a considerable amount of taxpayers' money.
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